An Evening With….Hokaze

By Furor Scribendi

2008 Scribendi Productions

November 15th

Professor Hokaze looked more like a mad scientist in a bad horror movie than a respected scientist for Vesper. He was wearing a thick radiation suit and what appeared to be welder's goggles beneath the high-topped head covering.

His laboratory had been converted into a scene from a war picture. Huge screens of Lexan or ABS plastic stood in front of much of the machinery and computers, along with mountains of sandbagging. Anything that did not need to be in the area had been moved out to afford the space for the operating theater

He peered around from behind his sand bunker and shielding at Mahoro, who was laid out flat on an operating table. Around her was an enormous oval, connected at both ends to an equally enormous power unit. Each unit was about the size of a bedroom, a cube ten meters large in all directions.

Thick power cables, appearing more like sewer lines, disappeared into a pair of holes into the floor. Hokaze was fiddling with the instrumentation before he came out to talk to Mahoro. The suit was cumbersome, so instead of walking naturally, he lumbered in a rocking motion. When he got close enough to Mahoro, he began to speak. "Muff fgtrflgm gwsoeke chgnerj."

Mahoro shook her head 'no'. "I can't hear a word you're saying."

Hokaze looked at her. "Wqsla nvvdht ewopdkgj ypjlio."

Mahoro spoke louder. "I…CAN'T…HEAR…A…WORD…YOU'RE…SAY…ING!"

Hokaze shook his head, and then took off the head covering. "I can't hear a word you're saying." Mahoro made a rueful smile as Hokaze continued to speak.

"Now, this particular approach worked excellently in the numerous simulations we ran, so I have very high hopes in being able to restore power to you. At the very least, we may be able to create a kind of balance with all this." He stood back and gazed at it, giving a contented sigh. "Some of my best work, too." Then he looked down at Mahoro.

"What we are going to do is pass a current through you." He made a motion like he was going to dive, pushing his hands out and across in a wavy gesture. "This oval is going to allow energy to flow from one side of it to the other. My original ideas focused primarily on the power unit itself. This plan is a kind of infusion, where we send power waves across you and a residual energy remains behind to recharge the power unit."

Mahoro looked at the massive power blocks. "Do you need that much energy?"

Hokaze smiled at her. "Fortune favors the prepared. One reason that I have this suit on. I could potentially be turned into a burnt chicken if I am not careful. You, however, are made of sterner stuff. You may feel oddly, but nothing dangerous. But this approach causes some problems." He walked towards one of the block, Mahoro turning her head to watch him.

"These Energy Cubes generates a massive electromagnetic field, so I cannot attach sensors to you, as they would be fried. POFARP! I am using telemetry to keep apprised of your situation. This also means that there is no way to communicate. Any caliber of devise will be rendered useless by the field and it will be so noisy, you couldn't hear me even if I had a huge amplifier, barking at you.

"In fact, almost anything metal would be trouble, which is why you are on a plastic table, for all intents and purposes. Also, the energy created is like a force field, so it will hold you in place, one reason there are no straps. Also, they would just get in the way of things."

"I will be OK, won't I, Professor Hokaze?" Mahoro seemed concerned.

"You will be just fine. I would never do anything to put you into harm's way. By the time we get to this point, we have run countless simulations and scenarios to determine the efficacy of what we are doing, as well as the potential drawbacks. Your safety and well-being is utmost in our minds. Now, if you will excuse me, it's time for me to work." He put his head covering back on and retreated to the safety of his bunker.

He turned a few more knobs and dials and took a deep breath. The suit was stuffy and claustrophobic and the air conditioning unit inside of it merely pushed around the hot air. He had gotten the best gloves he could find, but they were still rather bulky, the main reason he had such oversized knobs, dials and keyboards for his equipment. He examined his calculations one more time, to assure himself of the outcome, and then engaged the power.

A humming could be heard, as it rose in pitch. Hokaze looked at the three main power displays for him: the first was Mahoro's energy level, the second was the energy levels of the two units and the third was overall power consumption. This plan could potentially draw too much power from the local grid and if it went over the 67% mark, there would be an automatic shutdown.

He watched as the primary power source began to climb. He would need, at the least, the 50% mark to be hit and maintained before he could start the recharge. The only number that remained the same was Mahoro's. The energy block readouts finally crested their minimums, but he had barely gotten to 25% energy pull from the grid. This was good.

Another monitor gave a report on Mahoro's other vitals and there was a special camera to keep an eye on her. He looked at her smiling, hopeful face. This had to work, it just had to. Crossing his fingers, he nudged up the power flow. He didn't want to mention anything to Mahoro, but this trick was akin to opening a cat door on a dam. The resulting flood had the possibility of not being controllable, but numerous safeguards were in place to, hopefully, prevent a catastrophe.

Looking at the camera monitor, he saw Mahoro's hair standing up from the energy as the first of the power snaked through her. There was initially no change in her power readout, so he pushed up the power in 1/10th increments. The power continued to build as he was now drawing 33% from the grid and the energy cubes were at near capacity.

Click. Click. Click. The dial was turned gingerly, giving Hokaze a chance to stay on top of things. Slowly, the flow through Mahoro was increased until he heard a 'blip'. Looking over to the monitor, he saw a green power bar! Success! He HAD been able to give her more energy. He pushed away from the control board to look at all the power supplies.

The Energy Cubes were at 97% and 99% capacity, power drawn was at 50% and Mahoro had another three green bars. Should he push it up another tenth? His hand hovered over the dial. Things were going well, just a bit slow.

No. He pulled his hand back. It had already been five months, near endless working on cracking the energy problem; he could easily afford to let things take their course. What he really wanted to do was to practically refill her energy reserves, but he would take 30 days' worth. That would be nice. She comes in once a month and gets a boost for another month and that could go on forever. Things are held in balance. He closed his eyes and nodded happily.

He checked his power totals. Everything was where it should be, all within acceptable parameters. He counted Mahoro's green bars as they appeared on the screen. "16….17….18….19….20…21….21……21….20….!?" He held for a moment as a nauseating fear shot though him. He quickly scanned all the dials. All was OK for the moment.

He looked back at the monitor. "20….19…18…17….!" The numbers were retreating. He began to shut down the system, but nothing was responding. He turned all the dials to off, but the power kept surging through.

"16….15…14…13…12……" He hit the Emergency Shutdown, a massive red mushroom, designed for frantic pounding. Slamming hard at the oversized button, he saw the confirmation that all power had been turned off. But none of the power had been turned off! The drain continued.

"11…10…9…8…7…" He ran out there to try and manually shut down at the blocks, but the energy field was too intense. He tried to get at Mahoro, but the power being cast off was so immense, he was rebuffed, sent flying backwards as though he had been yanked on a rope, away from the table. As he slid towards his bunker, his head covering flew off. He smacked hard against the sandbags. Rolling over to get up, he winced in pain and saw that the left arm of his suit was scorched and smoldering from the heat given off by the field.

Scrambling into the bunker, he watched as the green bars disappeared. "2…1…zero!" He lowered his head; another abject failure. He looked up to see "Minus 1?! Minus 2??" Mahoro was losing energy! She was having ALL of her energy removed? Hokaze hit every button and knob that he could to cut the power. He smashed the Emergency Shutdown button so hard, it shattered and it cut through his suit, gashing his hand badly. Flinging off the gloves, blood pouring everywhere, he saw the energy being removed from her, now at a phenomenal rate, and he couldn't stop it. She shook the monitor.

"Stop! STOP! STOP, DAMMIT!" But the machines continued on, unmoved by his pleading. He looked at the monitor to see the light in her eyes go dim, a sign of her power shutdown. Within a few moments, the bars went to nothing. All of Mahoro's vital signs flat lined. Hokaze choked back his tears and his crying. Mahoro had ceased to function. She was dead and he did it!

As he looked to the monitor, he saw that Mahoro seemed to be caving in on herself. The system was still drawing whatever power it could from her body structure. She was turning cadaverous. Her hair became dust and her skin was losing its color. He had to stop the rest of the defilement before there was absolutely nothing left of her.

Grabbing a giant fireman's axe, he ran behind one of the energy blocks. He would have to hack through the massive cable. Raising the axe high, he slammed down upon it with all his might. An explosive bolt of energy burst from the cable, sending a tremendous surge of energy through him and the laboratory. Sparks and lightening strikes danced about the facility. Every nerve in his body detonated, as 100,000 volts tore him apart like he was rice paper.

The intensity and power locked up every muscle and it felt like his spine was breaking from the massive spasm. He could not let go and he could barely see as his clothing burst into flames and his blood was bubbling and turning to steam. He managed to cry out. "Noooooooooooo………………."

"…ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Leaping out of his bed, Hokaze ran frantically about the room, crashing into things and knocking stuff over, overwhelmed by panic and fear. He somehow managed to turn on the lights, shrieking the entire time as he wheeled about, "What have I done? I killed Mahoro! I killed…."

Gasping and panting, he looked at his hands. Although he was trembling like a cherry tree in the wind, there were no cuts, burns or blood on his hands. It slowly dawned on him that he was in his apartment. Was it all just a horrible, hideous dream? He wiped his brow to discover that he was dripping wet.

Going into the bathroom to look at himself, he saw that his pajamas were drenched, as if he had jumped into the ocean. He was so soaked, he was leaving puddles everywhere he stepped.

He peered back at his bed. Aside from it being torn apart, he could see a veritable pond of sweat from where he had laid. He put his hand on his chest to feel his heart still racing. He was afraid that it would leap out of his chest, it was going so fast. He put out his hand to steady himself, as his legs began to tremble, when he saw his hands were still shaking.

He stared at them, unable to stop the nervous tremors. He used the other hand to stop the first hand from shaking, but it only made things worse. Looking to the clock, it showed 3:17 AM. A shower, he thought to himself. I need a shower.

Peeling himself out of the saturated clothes, they hit the floor with a soggy plop, a small lake of sweat forming about them. He started the shower and sat on the floor, letting the water pour over him. His first task was to calm down. He still felt all jumpy and confused inside. He didn't know if he wanted to cry or throw up. He had not experienced a dream this disturbing in decades, when he had one of his mother and father being killed by a knife-wielding maniac. He had cried for days after that and couldn't sleep for the longest time.

But this one…a wave of nausea attacked him, but he just sat there, waiting for something to happen. Barf or don't barf, that was the choice. He looked up into the shower, the cooling waters running down his face. There was no way he was going back to sleep, not the way he felt. He might as well do some work.

Slowly standing up, he turned off the shower and toweled off. He threw on a pair of shorts and went to his study. The light went on and it showcased his latest attempt, but shook his head with a sense of failure. It was the Energy Oval of his dream.

He turned on his PC and sat down, going back through all the paperwork on this experiment. He knew that the dream was completely illogical. When you turn something off, it turns off. There would be no self-designated power override, where the machines decide what they are going to do on their own.

The plan of his was rather simple: it would be like rolling ink across an etched piece of metal. The ink would flow into those areas of depression and fill them up. Since the energy unit has, in effect, a depression of energy, the power should flow into the void and fill it up. Nature, after all, abhors a vacuum. So do cats.

But the real problem was making sure he was doing this correctly. He once mentioned to Don Vesper that it was like trying to fuel up a car without knowing where the gas tank access was. You couldn't hope to pour gas all over the car and assume that it would get sucked into the right location. You needed to know where to target it and how to target it.

His PC was up and running and he gained access to the Vesper mainframe computers. As he waited for it to cycle through procedures and protocols, he looked over to his paperweight, which happened to be an exact replica of Mahoro's power unit. Despite its energy output, it was not much bigger than a hardbound book.

He picked it up and stared at it, shaking his head 'no'. He knew exactly how to fix the problem, but he lacked the raw technology to do so. Calling upon the finest minds that he could get to, their brains were picked for the slightest grain of hope or a new direction to follow or a theory that was worth chasing after.

The actual answer was a snap: a self-energizing power loop. Based on breeder nuclear reactor technology, the theory was that the components created more energy from the supply given. The excess was put back in on itself, so you have a kind of perpetual power. However, execution of the theory was a feat in and of itself.

Hokaze also knew that you couldn't merely throw power at it. Akin to tossing batteries past a light bulb, the bulb cannot pull energy from the battery as it soars by. He even examined at the works of Nikola Tesla. Perhaps the addition of an extra unit into Mahoro to pull energy from the sky and keep her going, but the paperwork he had was still insufficient, as certain equations were missing and it didn't fully add up.

Also, Tesla Units were huge, cumbersome generators and that was completely inappropriate to what was needed by Mahoro. Of course, Tesla was doing this in the time of hand-wound capacitor mechanisms, needing miles and miles of copper wiring. The theory should be able to work in a compressed energy unit. But Mahoro herself added another wrinkle to the situation.

This was the major problem with reverse engineering: you did not fully understand how you got there, so by missing one or two key elements, it becomes impossible to comprehend how the whole unit operated with any certainty as to controlling it. He had heard tales that early versions of the warrior androids met with resounding failures. His arrival on the program was rather late, but he made up for lost time by absolutely pouring over the schematics and even watching how some of the parts were made, so he could fully understand

But he also had a sense of helplessness. So many of his plans and schemes had ended up in the same location: Failureville. Many of the ideas did not make it through the simulation stage. He knew the actual solution was simple, elegant and easy to execute, but he couldn't find it.

He once joked that he might have to install a power cord in her and just plug her in every night so she could recharge, much like an electric car. The fact that Vesper wanted him to pursue this angle showed that they were considering every idea with equal seriousness.

His real concern was that the problem would never be cracked. All of this work would be for naught. Hokaze shook his head, trying to dislodge the Surrender Thought. He did have another idea floating about, but nothing related directly to the energy problem: to accede to Mahoro's wishes and grant the breast augmentation, so she could spend her remaining days really happy.

He still could not understand Vesper's reticence in this area. A waste of money? There were a lot of things Vesper did that were a "waste of money" and, quite frankly, something as marginal as this augmentation would barely cost 100,000 yen. A set of tires for Commander Daimon's BMW cost that. He easily spent 10 times that amount on his last experiment alone and it was a failure.

He hated saying no to Mahoro on this, but he also felt odd about granting it. Not that he couldn't do the operation for her, but Mahoro was far better than anything a pair of boobies would give her. It wasn't a waste of money, but a misapplication. He had done a little research on this Saori Shikijo and understood her feelings in the matter, but he just could not make Mahoro understand that the big boobs weren't all that important in the larger scheme of things.

He sighed and laid his head on the desk, placing it on his upper arm and letting his hand drape over his head. He set up the power unit mock-up and stared at it. Perhaps it was the wrong kind of power he was using. Maybe it was not sheer electrical force but a kind of magnetic field to turn knobs and switches or open levers.

This went back to his simple and elegant approach to the problem. He closed his eyes to visual the interior of the unit. One component of it was the chronometer. Time and tide wait for no man, but if there was some way to do a temporal causality loop that would be great. But you would have to find a way to "fool" the internal clock.

It was like a clock he once saw in an office. The second hand would spin about while the hour and minute hands did not move at all, so it always read the same time. The clock operates, but it does not work. There was a way to send this caliber of instruction into the power unit, but he lacked the ability to communicate with the computer system or how to alter the preset language.

Stopping the clock would be the first move, but it still did nothing about the power. One theory went that if the loop worked, there would be no power loss, a kind of "Groundhog Day" effect. But Hokaze shook his head 'no'; an energy drain is an energy drain. He had to plug the leak, so to speak, and then refill the reservoir.

What he really needed was a kind of "go" command that would allow energy to be absorbed by the power unit. The way she was constructed, you couldn't just swap out units, like giant batteries; the whole system was part and parcel and to remove it from her was to kill her. That way was out, out, out.

She was, in effect, a NiCad battery. This approach he was currently trying was a sort of recharging unit. Not pass energy atop or over her, but fully through her. Still, it meant nothing if he couldn't "open the door", as it were, to allow energy to be drawn into her.

Microwaves? Too erratic. Infrared or ultraviolet? That only made heat. Lasers or light pulses? It was an idea. Perhaps as a highly focused beam of low-level energy. Plasma conversion? Too tricky. Ion technology? Now you're just getting silly, Hokaze.

The more he thought and visualized, the more deep and regular his breathing became. The monitor went into energy-saving mode, as no one was using it. He had fallen back asleep………..

Professor Hokaze stood upon the stage of the Stockholm Concert Hall in Sweden, where he was being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for his revolutionary approach to energy usage and reconservation. The head of the committee spoke to the crowd.

"Rarely has one single action or event created such a profound effect on our lives. This simple and elegant solution means that we have enough power for everyone forever. Let me introduce to you the man behind it all, Japan's Minato Hokaze!"

The applause was deafening as Hokaze made his way to the podium. King Carl Gustav XVI personally gave the award to him and shook his hand in a very friendly manner. The acceptance speech Hokaze gave was very short. "I am humbled. Thank you all." More applause came forth as he was led into the wings.

Backstage, he was being congratulated by everyone. He accepted their thanks, but sighed.

"Is there a problem?" he was asked.

"Yes. I only wish she was here. She didn't make it." He looked wistful.

"Professor Hokaze…"

He turned about to look. "MAHORO! You made it! You got here!"

She smiled shyly. "How could I miss one of the most important days of your life? Besides, I was there for another of your most important days."

He went up to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and a big hug. "You look marvelous. Let's get a real look at you."

She was wearing a black sheath dress that showcased magnificently her stunning figure. Mahoro looked at him. "Everything I have, I owe to you."

Hokaze showed her the Nobel Prize. "Everything I have, I owe to you."

MAHORO'S SYSTEMS CEASE TO FUNCTION IN 246 DAYS

End Notes

I originally had gone back and forth about this "An Evening With….." series, as it gives a chance to find out more about the other people in Mahoro's life, but I didn't want it to come off hokey or a kind of cheap-out writing. After all, the Saori tale took a rather long time to write, as I just couldn't get the beats down that I wanted to help tell the tale.

This one, however, arrived almost full bore, ready and willing to go. I had to play catch up a lot of the time, as it just was relentless in its desire to BE written. When I had originally gotten to the end, he was just going to fall back asleep, but this last little idea popped up and told me this was the better way to end this tale.

Of all the characters in the Mahoro Universe, I find Professor Hokaze gives me the most latitude to tell tales. This marks (at the time of this writing) his third real story. (OK, he plays a big part in the very first chapter, "A New Life", but that is an omnibus story, where EVERYONE shows up), the other two being "A Thorough Exam" and "…the Truth is Out".

I find that Commander Daimon and Sub-Commander Gunji do not fully appeal to me. They are military men and, therefore, closet their feelings. You cannot let emotions get in the way of life-and-death decisions, nor can you let your feelings of friendship cloud those hard choices that must be made for the betterment of all.

Hokaze, being a professor/scientist and a bit outside of the military mindset loop, is a touch more free in how he can address problems and how he can address himself. I decided to give a kind of free rein to his emotions, giving him an empathy for Mahoro. This is certainly reflected in the choice of words he uses to describe Mahoro and how he deals with her.

It also allows me to examine deeper the augmentation requests from Mahoro. Personally, I would have gone ahead and done it, but I am trying to find a real reason for it. I always suspected it was a "waste of money" as she would be gone soon and there was no real reason for such a meaningless frillip. I notice that when Mahoro first asks Vesper in the August 1st letter, the only person not bothered by the request is Ms. Shiina.

I had to look about to find Hokaze's first name, as it is only really mentioned once, and in passing. As to the physics portion of all of this, I am just letting it slide. I am to physics as Icarus was to flight, so anything that I put down is suspect at best.

I mean, it sounds good, but as to any real practicality, well, someone with a Master's Degree…in Science! would be better than I.